The Floor is Lava!
by Sulhadahne
Summary: One stormy day, Zack is stuck inside with his mentor and bored as hell. He and Angeal talk about storms, childhood fears, and Zack convinces him to play a game. Sephiroth just happens to walk in at the worst moment. AngealZack oneshot.


_Edited 5/19/13_

"This is SO boring!"

Young Zack Fair, almost seventeen, with dark spiky hair and the strong build of a SOLDIER in training, was hanging his head back over the arm rest of the sofa with the dreariest look on his handsome face. Body limp and stretched across the pillows, he groaned and turned onto his stomach, chin resting on the armrest as he pouted.

Across the room, a taller dark haired man, built like a tank and broad shouldered, sat reading the day's newspaper and drinking a cup of Earl Grey with a dignified, quiet smile, despite Zack's displeasure. It wasn't that Angeal was enjoying his friend's pain, not at all. But he had to admit, watching the puppy pout was a little bit amusing. Distracted from his reading, Angeal glanced up for a moment and saw Zack's puppy eyes trained on him, his chin resting on the armrest, his lips in a cute little frown. It was almost pathetic, and it melted his tough, warrior heart. But, he could do nothing about it. It wasn't as if Angeal was some sort of weather God.

It was Friday night, training was over, and most of the young men and women enlisted with Shinra would be out in the town, causing a ruckus and enjoying their youth. But not this Friday night; no, for this night, waterfalls of rain were falling from the sky, torrents the like of which hadn't been seen in years. The old cat and dog metaphor wouldn't have worked; more like it was raining wolves and tigers, and it wasn't going to stop for a while. And by the time it did stop, Friday night would be over, and there would be no partying to be had. Angeal almost felt sorry for Zack; _almost_.

The young man gave another groan as Angeal chuckled and shook his head. "Think of it as training, Zack. There may be a time in the future you will be forced to keep a diligent, quiet watch and won't be entertained for long periods of time." The man smiled when Zack's look became even darker.

"Kill me now!" The man declared, getting off the sofa with a huff. He immediately began doing squats to distract himself. Zack was the champion at squats amongst his rank. It was a strange nervous habit of his to break into squats when he was bored, hyper, ... whatever. "There has to be something to do. Hey!" Suddenly he stopped and turned to his friend, gesturing at the door. "We could go train in the VR room, hang out in there!"

Angeal looked up from his paper and sighed. "You may have a lot of pent up energy, but I am content and enjoying my peace. If you'd like to go anywhere, feel free." With that he returned to reading.

The younger man huffed, his hopes deflating. He didn't want to go anywhere without Angeal. Sure, he would go clubbing or partying without Angeal, but that was because he was a really old fashioned guy who wouldn't fit in. The idea was just awkward. Zack could imagine Angeal in a club... and any way he imagined it, the situation ended horribly and with someone's death or disfigurement. So no bringing Angeal clubbing.

Zack usually went clubbing with Reno or Kunsel. Maybe he could go see them... Idea in mind he turned back to his teacher.

But, just as he was about to announce his plans, he stopped. For a moment the teenager watched Angeal sitting by the window, as lightning flashed outside and thunder rumbled, shaking the building. And he remembered something. A smile came to his lips and he put his hands in his pockets.

"Didn't you use to hate storms?" He asked. His teacher glanced back up, arching an eyebrow with a tentative smile.

"... yes, I did. Who told you that?" A sheepish smile came to Zack's face and he blushed.

"Can't say. Top secret information."

Smirking, Angeal straightened his newspaper. "Was it Genesis?"

Zack's blush darkened and he frowned. He was surprised Angeal had spoken of Genesis; it was hard to talk about him, ever since he'd gone rogue and left Shinra. It hurt, speaking of a good friend in the past tense. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

At about this time the older man realized he was going to get no reading done, and set his newspaper aside. Angeal gave Zack his full attention, drinking the last of his tea and then setting the cup down. "Only two people, other than you, know of that. And of them, the louder mouth is... was Genesis." It was true; Genesis was always busy with his mouth, and gossiping with the first class had been one of his favorite hobbies. Amongst other things.

"Is Seph the other one?" Zack approached the table and grabbed a chair, turning it around so he sat with his stomach to the chair's back, his arms draping over the top. Once he was done adjusting, he saw Angeal's glare.

"That's General Sephiroth, Zack." The man admonished. Zack had the foresight to nod and say, "Yes, sir". "And yes, Sephiroth is the other person. What exactly did Genesis tell you?"

Shrugging, Zack looked out the window as he spoke. The sky seemed to be painted black, and every so often great lines of yellow would dance across it and the world would shake. It was rather beautiful. "Well, the Commander - err, ex- Commander," the man edited, "said back when you and he were kids you used to freak out over storms and he calmed you down." Zack glanced back to his teacher and saw he had a contemplative look on his face.

"Hn." Angeal chuckled quietly.

"What?"

The man glanced back up at his student. He didn't respond immediately. "Genesis was being nice, for once." He glanced out the window at the murky sky, and this time Zack did not. He opted instead for watching the thunderstorm's reflection in Angeal's deep brown eyes. "There was more to it than that."

"Maybe he was gonna let you tell me." Angeal chuckled again; in Zack the Puppy speech, that meant, 'Please, please, please, PLEASE, tell me the story!' Complete with big, adorable eyes and pouting lips. Angeal wondered where the boy had picked up that skill.

Sighing, the man nodded and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I was deathly afraid of storms, back then. I took no comfort from my parents, I didn't want to bother them. I stayed in my room and suffered in silence."

Zack smiled; that sounded like the brave and honorable Angeal Hewley. He wouldn't ever purposely inconvenience anyone, and he always took more onto himself than he could handle, even if he wouldn't admit it. Then he'd try and act normally, even when he was in pain, telling no one, and it bothered Zack to no end. Angeal had a knight's soul, but he needed to learn to confide in others!

"So?" Angeal had fallen silent; he'd become lost in memories. Zack broke him out of his reverie, and the man nodded, continuing his story.

"Genesis and I, though we grew up living very different lives, we became very close. One night we were playing in the wilds around the village, when a bad storm hit." Zack visibly winced.

"That sucks." Angeal chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"That it did. We were too far from Banora to travel home in the rain, and even so, I was too scared to move. Being out in the storm..." A dark look came over the man and he frowned. It seemed he was remembering the event in detail. "It was horrifying. I had hated seeing it, hearing it, but being in it? That was hell."

"What were you afraid of?" Zack asked. He couldn't imagine his great, powerful teacher being afraid of anything. Angeal could probably rip Bahamut a new one, how could a thunderstorm scare him?

Chuckling, Angeal met his student's eyes. "Are children's fears ever logical?"

Zack shrugged. "Sometimes, I guess." A small chuckle escaped him though it was hard to hear, as the loudest crash of thunder yet rumbled at the same time. "You know what I was afraid of as a kid?"

Smirking, Angeal arched an eyebrow. "Cats?" He asked. Zack frowned playfully at the joke, another jab at his "Puppy" nickname.

"No!" He would've swatted Angeal's shoulder, but the man was sitting out of reach, and besides that, he was laughing. It was good to hear the solemn man laugh. After that, Zack grinned and admitted his own childhood fear. "I was afraid of girls."

Angeal's eyes almost bugged out of his face. "W - What?" A sputtering laugh escaped him, and even Zack had to chuckle. "Did I hear correctly? The resident flirt, Zachary Fair, afraid of girls?"

"Scared me shitless!" He admitted with a grin. "I didn't have too many friends 'cause of it. All the other boys were always with the girls, teasing 'em and whatever. I didn't want any of that."

"When did it change?" Angeal asked. His own story seemed to have been forgotten, but it hadn't. Zack was going to ask him to finish it as soon as he told his own embarrassing memory.

At the question, Zack felt himself blush. The truth was, a time came in his life when he realized that his 'fear of girls' was really a lack of desire for them, and he feared being made to act like the other boys did around girls. That happened, sometimes. Dares at parties, mistletoe during the holidays. Once he was locked in a closet with a girl for Seven Minutes of Heaven, but for him it was more like hell. Everyone expected him to like the girls like the rest of the boys, he just... didn't. It took growing up to realize that being 'afraid of girls' was more like being afraid of not fitting in, because of his sexuality.

Of course, he couldn't tell his teacher that."

"It, uh... kinda never went away. I mean, girls don't scare me, they're just... weird." Angeal laughed, and Zack felt relief flood his chest. "Back to your story. I think you and Genesis were stuck outside of Banora...?" Zack returned his rapt attention to his teacher, eager as ever to learn anything he could about him.

The elder man nodded and returned to his telling. "Yes. We found a grove in one of the pathways, sheltered under a tree and partially underground. It kept us rather dry but did little to comfort me. I'm..." He paused, a little color on his cheeks. "I cried a good bit that night, screamed a little. I almost ran off into the storm for home, might've gotten myself killed. I don't think I would've made it without Genesis."

Angeal's eyes were clouded over, either from being lost in the past or from unshed tears, perhaps both. Zack fought the sudden urge to reach out and dry his eyes, to tell him everything was all right. But everything was not all right. For some reason, Genesis was now the enemy, he had betrayed SOLDIER, he had betrayed Zack, and worst of all, Genesis had betrayed his best friends, Angeal being one of them. The young man hurt inside knowing he could do nothing about it, that he couldn't just magically make it all good again. For all the time he'd spent with Angeal, and consequentially, Genesis and Sephiroth, he'd seen Angeal open up, warm up, change. And when Genesis had run off... it had started to reverse. Zack had seen Angeal begin to close up again. He couldn't let that happen; somehow, he had to make Angeal happy.

"Genesis was a good friend, huh?" Zack muttered. Angeal nodded.

"He held me the whole night, and carried me back into town the next day. His parents, the richest couple in town, took me in and took care of me afterwards." Zack happily noticed that Angeal was cheering up, thinking of better memories. "We spent days in bed afterwards, just talking, enjoying one another's company. We had grown much closer, and he had earned my eternal trust." Suddenly the man's eyes flashed, and he turned away with a sigh. "Well... perhaps not."

Zack frowned and his heart clenched. Damn, he needed to think of a happier topic, and soon! But for some reason he thought of something else, a question that had been bothering him. He knew it wasn't the most appropriate thing to ask, but he had to. He had to know. So he took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and asked it quickly.

"Were you and Genesis... just friends?"

Surprised, Angeal lifted his head to look at Zack again. "What do you mean, pup?" He asked. The man used the nickname because he could tell, for some reason, that Zack was suddenly keyed up and nervous. Calling him "puppy" or "pup" seemed to make him feel better usually, and this time was no exception. Though the question was a little odd, Zack was known for being curious. So Angeal decided to grace him with an answer.

"... in our youth, we found comfort in one another." The elder man admitted. In others words, he and Genesis had been together, for a time.

Zack felt his throat dry up, and some of his fears about being "discovered" melted away. Of course, it was always scary to tell someone the truth - that he was gay - because it was something that was so rarely spoken about. At least, it was back home, in the countryside. What he'd seen of the big city so far showed a somewhat different picture. But still... should he risk telling Angeal? Especially since... well, his feelings for his teacher weren't completely platonic.

"Genesis and I are, or... were, only friends, until his departure." A great rush of relief fled through Zack and it took all his self control not to let out a peaceful sigh. That would look strange so he held it in.

"I'm sorry." Zack muttered, though he didn't know why. Well, he kinda did know why; he was sorry that Angeal had lost his friend, that he was in pain, and he was sorry that he couldn't make it better.

His teacher seemed to understand and he smiled benignly, shaking his head. The storm seemed to be lightening up. It was still raining madly, but there hadn't been any lightning for a while. The pounding of the water on the rooftop was sort of relaxing, and Zack wasn't as peeved as he had been. If missing a night of hanging with Reno meant he could get to know his teacher better, then the red head would have to spend Friday night without him.

"Still bored?" Said teacher asked, smirking lightly. Zack shrugged.

"Kinda. I really wanna get up and move!" For emphasis he stood and stretched, and then sighed. Angeal shook his head, muttering something about kids. Zack frowned and moved to elbow him, but Angeal just laughed.

"You know, when I was bored as a child, I read." Immediately Zack made an interesting face, which at first was revulsion and disgust, his eyebrows arched, eyes wide, mouth in a frown as he stuck his tongue out. Very comical. Then, at the sound of Angeal's laughter, the look change and the youth adopted a dead panned, "ha, ha, ha", dry comedy sort of face. But then it morphed again as a wonderful idea occured to the boy.

"Ha!" He grinned and moved to the center of the room quickly, glancing around with the exuberance and joy of his namesake. Angeal watched him with a little confusion and curiosity.

After a moment, Zack moved to the kitchen counter and climbed onto one of the stools, balancing on his toes with a big grin on his face. Angeal was more confused, especially when a moment later, Zack stretched his leg out towards the sofa, trying to reach. It was too far away, but he managed by holding onto the counter with one hand and pushing himself towards it. After a moment he got a foot on the armrest, and then he shoved the rest of his body over, balancing precariously.

"May I ask what you are doing?" Angeal said dryly, his confusion taken over by a sort of feeling of, "Zack's being weird again, where the hell did SOLDIER get this guy from?"

Grinning ear to ear, Zack glanced up at his teacher, then back down as he judged the distance between the sofa and the desk chair across the way. If he timed it right... Angeal could already see what was going to happen, but before he could say anything, Zack leapt. He jumped over the coffee table, and land feet first on the desk chair in a crouch. But this was one of the swirling desks chairs that spun in circles; Zack's momentum sent the chair both rolling forward and spinning around, and as soon as his feet touched the chair he lost his balance and fell onto the ground hard, flat on his ass. In the process he'd almost smashed his face into the side of the desk. Angeal would've been concerned, if he wasn't busy trying to keep from laughing his ass off.

"AAH!" When his student started screaming suddenly like he was in great pain, Angeal leapt to his feet and bounded across the room, worry making his heart pound. Zack had leapt from the ground as if he were surrounded by snakes, hopping into the desk chair. Once again it started moving and spinning, but this time the youth grabbed on and wouldn't let go. Angeal came to stand beside him, eyes wide with worry, but he could see nothing wrong with his friend. As the chair started to slow to a stop, the boy wiped his forehead with his hand and muttered, "Phew!"

A hand suddenly stopped the chair in its tracks, as Angeal leaned onto it. Zack glanced up and saw his teacher frowning darkly.

"What was that, Lt. Fair?" The man murmured, his voice laced with anger. Zack knew it was a bad thing to make Angeal worried, because it usually led to him being annoyed.

The only way to deal with an annoyed Angeal was to charm him. So Zack put on his best cute face and smiled innocently, and said, "The floor is lava!"

The taller man blinked. "... Come again?"

Giggling, Zack couldn't resist poking a little fun at Angeal. "Quick! Your feet will catch on fire! Get on a chair or the table or something!"

"Zack."

The boy winced; he knew that voice, the "no nonsense" voice. "Didn't you ever play this game?"

Confused, the man let go of the chair and crossed his arms. "What game?"

"You know! You move around the room on the tables and chairs and stuff, and you can't touch the ground because you'll die, and then, game over!"

This didn't seem to alleviate any of the Commander's confusion. "You touch the floor... and die?" Zack nodded happily, hoping his teacher was catching on. "The floor is lava?"

"Yup! And you're standing in it!" Zack pointed out. "But since you didn't know we were playing, I won't count that round. But you better jump on the couch or something, or you're gonna lose the next one!"

Angeal sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm not doing this, Zachary."

"Come on!" The boy whined, his lips pouting. Oh, how he hated (loved) that face. Angeal tried not looking at it, but that was rather difficult. "What else is there to do?"

"Relax, perhaps?" The man offered. But he'd made the mistake of looking into those baby blue eyes. He sighed; Zack had him, and when he saw the boy grin, Angeal knew that he knew it, too.

"Explain this one more time."

So, Zack told him: don't touch the ground, simply move about the room without falling. Whoever falls first loses. It seemed simple enough to the man. After years of SOLDIER training, what was a little stretching going to do? It didn't seem that hard at all.

"So this is what you did for fun?" Angeal asked. He was perfectly balanced on sofa's armrest. "Climbed on furniture?"

"I'm a country boy, all right? We didn't have money for fancy stuff!" Angeal could understand that; he certainly hadn't come from money. "Kids in Gongaga had to come up with their own games." Zack was busy trying to get from the desk chair to the desk, which wouldn't have been hard if the desk hadn't been full of crap, and if the chair would've stopped moving. It was rather amusing watching the boy flail about, though Angeal did hate the idea of shoes on his desk.

"Didn't you say you didn't have many friends?" Angeal asked. Zack nodded.

"Yup. Made this game up all by myself." Angeal held back a laugh as the chair moved out from under Zack's legs once again. He managed to keep from hitting the floor by latching his feet around the chair's arm rests and holding tight to the desk. Now that Angeal thought about it, this was a sort of training exercise.

"I can tell." The man replied. Zack turned and frowned playfully at him, but for that one distracted second, he lost his cool and his hold on the chair, and fell stomach first to the floor with a big thump. "Oof!"

Angeal laughed. "I didn't even move once. Does that mean I win?"

"We play again!" Zack declared loudly as he stood and leapt onto the desk. Angeal resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but agreed to play. Why the hell he was doing so he didn't know. Surely it had nothing to do with the adorable pout on Zack's face. He could only imagine the humiliation if any of his fellows walked in on this. "Your turn to move!"

Sighing, the older man glanced around. Tentatively he moved one foot to the slick coffee table, and a moment later was standing on it. "This is rather simple." He dryly commented to his younger friend. The teen smirked and shook his head.

"Not always! Here, watch!" He proceeded to take measure of the room, as if to figure out what to do next. Biting his lip, he swung his arms, and then jumped over the coffee table. Zack landed on the couch but didn't stop, he ran halfway up the wall, flipped and landed feet first on the coffee table. Straightening, he turned and grinned at his teacher. To his surprise his teacher was frowning.

"You're scrubbing that wall." The man declared, arms akimbo. Zack stuck his tongue out at him.

"Clean freak." Angeal chuckled, but didn't say otherwise. Zack gestured to him. "Now it's your turn!"

The older man smirked down at his friend. Maybe it was time for a little showing off. He glanced around the room as if looking for a target. Once he decided what to do his smirk grew bigger. Zack noticed his smug demeanor and crossed his arms with a smirk of his own, as if daring Angeal to show him up.

But, in all of the excitement, the two seemed to forget something. Perhaps it was because of the loud storm that they didn't hear the creaking and cracking of the table beneath them. Just as Angeal stepped forward to leap away to wherever, the table did two things; first Angeal's weight sent the other side, with smaller Zack, flying skyward, and the table also broke beneath them. Angeal lost his footing and fell to the ground just as Zack was thrown on top of him.

With a grunt the older man fell on his side, and rolled to get off of his arm. Zack landed on him a second later, but that didn't hurt as much as falling did as the young man was so small. It took Angeal hardly a blink of an eye to realize what position they were in: Angeal was on his back, and Zack had fallen on his chest, his legs spread over the other man's waist. The man was groaning, head in the crook of Angeal's neck. He hadn't quite realized their position just yet. Good; Angeal could toss him off quick and he'd never know, and they could just forget about this ever happening.

Though he said that in his mind, his arms weren't obeying him. He remained stock still beneath the younger man, his limbs refusing to move. A moment later, his student leaned up a little, his arms on Angeal's chest.

At that moment Zack's eyes grew very wide. He almost looked - scared. Why? After a moment, Angeal realized it wasn't fear, but nerves. The young man was nervous. Angeal could feel his student's heartbeat against him, and it was pounding like a drum. Of course, his heart, too, was fluttering in his chest, but that was because he... well... he felt something for Zack he knew was inappropriate.

But if Zack's actions were any indicator... maybe he felt the same way?

Neither moved; Zack felt like he'd suddenly lost all control of his body. _Do something, do something, do something! This is your chance! _But he just couldn't move. Lips dry, hands trembling, the young man felt like he'd fallen into a bad romance comedy, the only difference being that it wouldn't end with true love. More likely it would end with a fist in his face.

Later, neither could say who made the first move, or perhaps they moved together, finally overcoming their nerves. But the two were kissing softly, like shy, love struck teens (which Zack sort of was anyway), both with dark blushes on their cheeks. It was cute, it was innocent, as Angeal weaved his arms around Zack's smaller waist and the student shyly raised his hands to run them through Angeal's hair.

It was much too short, for it was over in a flash. Zack leaned up, eyes lidded, and nervously glanced down at his teacher. Angeal glanced away, almost ashamed to look him in the eyes. They had crossed a line, the line of friendship, of mentor and tutor, and the older man felt totally responsible. What he had done was unforgivable, and Zack would never talk to him again, how could he do such a thing -?

Zack was smiling, Angeal suddenly noticed. It was a sincere smile, with traces of shyness. A soft blush was on his cheeks. The look in his eyes seemed to say that he knew exactly what Angeal was thinking, and Angeal didn't like it.

A hand ran through Angeal's hair again and the man sighed. "Zack..." The student drew his hand away and tucked both his arms under his chin, a big dorky grin on his face.

"So... was it good for you? Cause it was good for me." The teenager winked. Angeal blanched.

"Z - Zack!" The man burst into laughter, and warmth filled Angeal's heart again. Maybe he'd been wrong. Perhaps it wasn't the end; maybe the... kiss... had been mutually enjoyable.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Zack shot up suddenly, so fast that he lost his balanced and tumbled back to the floor with a screech. Angeal shot up next, his face brick red, glancing over at the door. Standing at the edge of the room, leaning against the wall with a big smirk on his face, was none other than General Sephiroth, boss and friend to the both of them.

"S - Sephiroth!" Angeal was once again feeling shame, afraid of what his friend would think. But Sephiroth seemed to be amused, even smug. Before the silver haired man could ask or say anything, Zack recovered from his shock and ran to the sofa.

"Sephiroth, play with us!" He declared as he jumped on the couch. The General had a bemused look on his face. He turned to Angeal.

"So that was... 'playing'?" The man's face turned even redder, if possible, as he glared at his student.

"Zack..."

"Come on, you two, you're dying!" Zack grinned, looking like the puppy he was famed to be. He turned his cute face on both his superiors. "Quick!"

Sephiroth, arms crossed, turned to his friend. Angeal stood, and let out a sigh. But it wasn't a tired, sad sigh, like the ones from earlier. This was one of relief, perhaps even of contentment. He didn't really seem to mind Zack's silly behavior, and Sephiroth could tell he was enjoying himself.

Angeal glanced at his friend with an inquisitive look. Sephiroth shrugged. So, a moment later, the two were standing on the couch, Zack in the middle, Angeal and Sephiroth on either side.

"Okay! First one to fall has to take night watch duty!" Zack declared happily.

Both superior officers glanced down at him. "The General and I don't do night watch." Angeal told him. "Only you're ever assigned to that."

"Exactly!" The boy cheered.

Angeal and Sephiroth shared a devious look.

"Come on! Let's go!" Zack was about to move towards the kitchen counter when Sephiroth not so secretly shoved him off the sofa. "Hey! What gives?"

The silver haired man smirked. "Well, looks like you lose."

The teen pouted. "That's not how you play! We're gonna keep playing until we play right!" He stood and declared.

Sephiroth shrugged. Angeal turned towards the window. Outside, the sky was still pitch black and streaked with gold, and it didn't seem like it would let up anytime soon. So he shrugged too. What the heck, he figured. His newspaper and tea could wait.

Even SOLDIERS needed breaks sometimes.


End file.
